Spring Bulbs

Each week I will be uploading new pictures of my plants - as they grow. Please e-mail your own plant pictures to me.

Weekly updates:

23/03/09 Throughout this week all of my daffodils have opened. They are all standing proudly in my garden, the tallest measures 35cms in height. Many more of you have reported your daffodil flowers opening this week and finally your crocuses have opened too! See the and to compare other schools with your own. This is the last week for recording temperatures and rainfall - so please send in all your records before the Easter holidays then I will send you your certificates on the 5th of April.

17/03/09 My 1st daffodil opened today!

13/03/09 This week my daffodils have grown lots. I'm sure they will flower over this weekend! So far, the findings this year are very interesting. All schools are reporting that daffodils are coming before the crocus - which is very unusual and has not happened before in this study! Also, all our flowers seem to be around three weeks later than usual, which has also been reported by the Really Welsh farmers! But why?...

The cold weather this winter has meant that our bulbs were exposed to frost. Frost can slow down a flower's development or even damage a flower and prevent it from flowering. Bulbs in pots are particularly vulnerable.

But why did most of the crocus come later than the daffodil? In short, the frost had a more damaging affect on the crocus because the bulbs are smaller and not so tough. The frost also came at a bad time for the crocus when it was almost ready to flower.

04/03/09 Lots of my crocus flowers have appeared and my daffodils are beggining to shoot up too. I took some close-ups of the crocus flowers today because they look so pretty - covered in dew drops.

I've studied the average flowering dates for this year and see that in many schools it is the daffodils that have opened 1st. The crocus have only opened in two places - my garden and Burton School. Normally, it is the crocus that open 1st? Take a look at the and for yourself.

23/02/09 Today, my 1st crocus flower opened! Lots of other flowers have shot up too - but only one has actually opened. In the sunlight you can see through the petals to see the orange anthers inside. My daffodils have grown quite a lot this week, the tallest is now 18cms tall. See the - some daffodils have opened at Oakfield Primary School in Cardiff too! Have any of your flowers opened yet?

19/02/09 Hi Bulb buddies! Welcome back from your half term break. In my garden, things have really started to grow. What was a tiny green bud, has transformed into a beautiful purple flower. It's still not open yet - when it looks like this you should send your flowering date to the immmediately. Then a flower symbol will appear above your school on the and the average flowering date for your school will appear on the .

In , in Pembrokeshire one of their daffodils has already opened - unsually before the crocus. I'm going to be watching my Crocus everyday now so i can catch the flowering - I hope you can do the same!

10/02/09 The shoots are now 2-3cm tall. This is small for this time of year - because we have had such a cold spring. At this time last year the crocus flowers had already opened and the daffodils were 11cms tall!

Which shoot is which? The daffodil shoots have smooth curved, light green tips. They are much broader than the crocus tips. The crocus shoots have narrow pointed shoots that normally appear in clusters of five. They have dark green edges - making them look slightly stripey.

03/02/09 Snow everywhere today, even a bit in Cardiff! The shoots haven't grown much this week and now they are hidden under a blanket of snow.

Come back next week to see how much the plants grow.

Professor Plant

Here is my Crocus Picture Diary.

Each week I will be uploading new pictures of my Crocus plants - as they grow! Compare them with your own.

January 19th - Here's the first picture, the crocus shoots are just popping up above the soil. Have yours started growing yet?

January 15th - I could just see the tips of the shoots poking out from the soil today. Come back next week to look at the pictures!

Professor Plant

I'd like to say Merry Christmas to all the school pupils who are helping this year!

I am truly delighted with all the weather records that I have recieved so far.

Do you like my Christmas hat? I can't wait until the Christmas holidays! Not long now. I'm really looking forward to relaxing and spending time with my family and plant pals. I wonder if we will get a white Christmas this year?

I hope you have a really fantastic holiday and get everything you wish for!

Best wishes

Professor Plant

Planting for the Planet!

3,743 pupils from 91 schools across Wales are taking part in this year's Spring Bulbs for Schools investigation. On Monday the 20th of October each pupil planted crocus and daffodil bulbs to kick-start this climate change investigation - which is in its forth year.

Over the next few months each of these school scientists will be keeping weather records and noting when their flowers open as part of a long term study looking at the effects of temperature on spring bulbs.

Talk to Professor Plant:
Professor Plant would love to know how you got on with your planting. Let us know what you did in your school or send in some photographs.

To be web safe: 
We will not publish any childrens names. When you leave a message, list the name of your school, then your comment will be posted as ' pupils from' and the 'name of your school'. Always ask your teacher for permission before posting a message or a photograph.

Humankind is the 'Earth's biggest threat'

The world’s top scientists are in no doubt that human activity is changing our climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the evidence is ‘unequivocal’ that increased warming since the industrial age is due to human activity.

What do you think we should be doing to tackle climate change?

What are your questions?

There are many ways you can make a difference. The first step is to understand climate change.

Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales and Science Shops Wales are touring an exhibition and talks to promote the understanding of climate change. If you would like to find out more e-mail scan@nmgw.ac.uk